One of the most telling lines in the movie is when Lars says to Bianca (his doll "girlfriend") that the fake flowers are beautiful. He says they are great because since they are not real, they can never die. For Lars, real life community has been hard because his parents died, his brother moved away and everyone abandoned him. Therefore, Bianca is perfect because she is not real, so she can never abandon him.
Lars is so paralyzed by the fear of being abandoned that he won't engage socially with anyone. Today, the youth pastor at my church was telling me that his High School Kids fear abandonment more than anything else. That fear suppresses authenticity, because if they are real and vulnerable, then they will likely be rejected and abandoned. Just like Lars, when people let us down, we run after things that are not real in order to satisfy us. We justify it by saying, at least they can never let us down. I am so thankful that we don't have to run after futility and instead can run to God who says that "I will never leave you, nor forsake you."
3 comments:
well, i guess we're going to have to "agree to disagree." i know i'm in the minority here - most of the people i've talked to did enjoy this movie. but all i can say is that the entire movie i felt this urge to stand up and yell, "come on, people! you're enabling a guy who's obviously crazy!"
i can appreciate the deeper thematic elements of isolation, abandonment, fear, community and all that. it's just that i was so frustrated and/or squirming in my seat at the awkwardness of it all. are we really to believe that people would respond this way to someone who has an obvious mental illness/delusion? or is the whole thing just a metaphor for something else? like peoples' individual quirks and the like.
i don't expect to convince anyone to NOT like the movie just because i didn't get it. but i thought you might enjoy some feedback on your blog. in the meantime, i'll be watching "saving private ryan"...
Jeff, I finally saw this movie over the holiday. I enjoyed it despite its awkwardness and being a bit slow.
It was a little slow and very awkward. And maybe part of my love of it is my deep love for the awkward, especially when it doesn't involve me. Hence, why I love the Office.
Post a Comment